In anticipation of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, an ambitious Japanese company hopes to stage a man-made meteor shower!
Star-ALE plans to launch a wave of microsatellites into space which will contain thousands of tiny pellets consisting of different combinations of metals and other elements.
When the opening ceremonies of the games are underway, the satellites will release their unique cargo which will rain down onto the atmosphere over Japan.
The show will be particularly spectacular because the composition of the pellets will allow for a vast array of colors to be emitted as they burn on reentry into the atmosphere.
The company claims that the incredible faux meteor shower will be visible by anyone with 120 miles of the games.
At a cost of $8,000 per pellet, the man-made meteor shower sounds like a daunting task but, as we've seen in the past, host nations seem to spare no expense when it comes to their opening ceremonies.
All told, it is believed that the project would cost a little over $8 million dollars and, in case you were wondering, the meteor shower can be cancelled in case of rain.
Should the plan prove successful, it may pave the way for a whole new style of aerial pageantry and spell the end of fireworks, which will seem quaint by comparison.
Source: Gizmodo